A .224 caliber rifle will kill deer. I know some individuals that have had more success with .222's than many hunters have with 30-06's. I've decommissionedplenty ofhogs with my .223. All it takes is the right bullet in the right spot. If the bullet has enough power to make it to the vitals, then you have enoughgunto do the job. That's not saying that there aren't better calibers out there for the job. But it will work. If somebody is comfortable shooting one, they can take a deer.

The one thing I have noticed in .22-250's is most of them come with a fairly slow rate of twist, so they don't always stabilize heavier bullets reliably. Light weight varmint bullets don't always penetrate well. Although if you are taking neck shots, those may be the bullets to have. I have seen larger bullets pass through the necks of smaller deer and not expand. They went between all the vitals, and although the deer was knocked unconcious from the impact, they came back to life about 10 to 15 minutes later.